The sum of five consecutive numbers is - 20. Which is the least of these five numbers?

Since the numbers are consecutive, they can be represented by:

x, x+1, x+2, x+3, x+4

Their sum is - 20 = x+x+1+x+2+x+3+x+4. Result: - 20=5x+10, or 5x=-30, or x = - 6.

Then the numbers are - 6, - 5, - 4, - 3 and - 2. These do add up to - 20, as required.

The smallest of these is - 6.

Consecutive numbers means 1,2,3 or 102,103,104 etc.

2,3,4,5,6 add to 20

So - 2, - 3, - 4, - 5, - 6 add to - 20

-6 is the least of the 5 consecutive numbers which sum to-20